Automatic stopping mechanism for phonographs



July 15 1924. 1,501,890

w. c. ROE

AUTOMATIC STOPPING MECHANISM FOR PHONOGRAPHS FiledJuIy 17, 1919 2 Sheets5heet 1 INVENTOR WITNESSES July 15. 1924. 1,501,890

W. C. ROE

AUTOMATIC STOPPING MECHANISM FOR PHONOGRAPHS Filed July 17, 1919 2 Sheew-Smw Z Patented July 15, 1924..

UNITED STATES WILLIAM 0. non, or PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMATIC STOPPING MECHANISM FOR PHONOGRAPHS.

Application filed July 17, 1919. Serial No. 311,446,

To all. whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM C. Ron, a resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Stopping Mechanism for Phonographs, of which the following is a specification. I The invention relates to attachments for phonographs or talking machines for the purpose of automatically stopping the rota.

tion of the record carrying table when the needle has reached the end of the record.

The object of the invention is, to provide a mechanism of this kind which is entirely automatic and stops the rotation of the table when the tone arm stops moving over the record, entirely irrespective of the length of the record and without the neces sity of any special or previous adjustment of the mechanism. A further'purpose of the. invention is co provide an automatic mechanism for the purpose stated which is 'ofsimple and durable construction and reliable in operation.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of the table of the talking machine having the improvement,

applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 22, Fig. 1; Fig. 3' shows the main parts of the mechanism in plan view and on an enlarged scale; Fig. 41 is a detail horizontal section on the line 4-4, Fig. 5, Fig. 5 is a detail vertical sectional viewcn the line 55, Fig. 3; and Fig. 6 is a plan view showing a modification.

In the drawings 1 indicates the box or cabinet within which the phonograph actuating mechanism 01" the usual construction is mounted; 2 indicates the record mounted on the usual rotary table 3 which is carried by the vertical spindle 4,driven in the usual way from the actuating mechanism; and 5 is the tone arm, shown as of the usual construction, pivotally supported at one side of the table 3 in the usual manner, and

carrying the usual soundreproducing box and needle which travels over the record. The spindle 4, directly underneath the ..table 3 is provided with, or has applied. thereto, a spiral'or worm 7 which meshes with a wormwheel 8 on a horizontal shaft 9 mounted in bearings 10 which are shown as formed in Lip-turned portions of the supporting plate 11 which is secured to the top of the box 1, underneath the rotary tablet. Pivotally mounted on the plate 11, at 12,'is'

a shifting member comprising an arm 13 and a lever arm 14, the latter extending out beyond the table and being provided with an actuating handle 15. The outer end of the shaft 9 is provided with a worm-16 which meshes with a worm wheel 17 rotatably mounted on the arm 13. ..As shown (see Fig. 5) the worm wheel 17 is provided-With a sleeve 18 which surrounds a headed stud 19 screwed or otherwise secured in the arm 13. Mounted around the sleeve 18, between the worm wheel 17 and the arm l3 is a toothed wheel 20, having inclined or: saw

teeth as shown in Fig. 4, and arranged to be engaged by a similarlytoothed segment 21ton an arm 22 wl1ich is secured tothe tone arm .5 and moves therewith, said arm 22 preferably being'angularly adjustable relative to the tone arm, as by means of thelclamp-.

ing band 6, and also adjustable'in length by .the screw) and slot connection 23, so .as to secure proper relation betweenthe' segment 21 and the wheel 20. .The wheels l 'z'and 20 are so connected that they can rotate relative to each other in one direction but notv in the opposite, such, for instance, as' providing the gear 20' with arecess Q lcontairy ing a cylinder or ball 25 biased by means of spring 26 and arranged to engage the sleeve direction but not in the opposite direction, as will be readily understood.

The supportingplatell is provided with i a radial extension 11: projecting-out into proximity to the-periphery of the rotating table 3,,and has pivotally mounted thereon,- .1:

at 28, a lever 29 which'at its free end carries a brake member 30 arrangedto cooperate with the inner surfacexof the rimfof the. table 3, to stop said table me; well understood manner.

nected at one end. to a stud sufiicient pressure of'the brake member-30'. against the rim of the table to'stop the me tation of the latter. The lever. arm- 14E is.

provided with a triangular shaped opening A tension spring 31 con- 32 on the supporting plate arm '11 and at its opposite end connected to a' stud '33 on,

diti'on continues until against rotation.

34 through which the stud 33 projects, said opening having two oppositely inclined straight faces 35, 35 connecting with later al extensions 36, 36 at the two ends of the opening 34, and which extensions are circumferential with reference to the axis around which the lever 14 oscillates.

The operation'o'f this mechanism is as follows: Fig. 3 shows the parts in position with the rotating table held against rotati onhy brake member 30. In this positibnthe worm :gear 17 is out of mesh with the worm 16.. A new record having been placed upon the table, and the tone arm positionediat one side as usual, the machine is started by moving the lever handle 15 in the direction of the arrow 37, which brings the worm wheel 17 into mesh with theworm 16, and at the same time the inclined face 35 of the opening in the lever .l-trides ot'er the pin and causes the? lever 29 to be oscillated around its pivot, thus disengaging the brake member 30 from therim ofthe table 3, and permitting the actuating anechanism to start the rotation of the table. The lever 14 is moved until the :pin 33 rests in the lateral extension 36 offiopening 3 1, thus holding the lever 29 in-table-unloclcing position. The needle is then started on the record in the usual way. As the table rot-ates, through worm 7, worm wheel shaft'Q'a-nd worm 16, the worm wheel 17 is also rotated] Thetone arm moves over the record in the usual way, and finally toothed segment 2-1 thereof engages with'toothed wheel 20, thus also rotating this wheel, and in the same direction the. "wheel 17 is rotated, at the same, or a greater speed,'preferably at a greater speed inorder to'hol'd the lever 14 and'stud 33 in iiiterz-loching engagement. The ratchet clutch :25, '26 is soarranged as to permit thesetwo :gears'to be rotated in the same direction but at-different speeds. This conthe needle reaches the end of the record, whereupon, as is well known, theswinging movement of the tone ceases,-so"that the arm 22 and segment 21 bepme relatively stationary. This locks thewh-eel 20 against rotation, and since the ratchet clutch 25, 26 permits relative to tation of the wheels 20 and 17 in one direction only, the locking of the wheel 20 against rotation also locks the wheel 17 The'shaft 9 and worm 16, however, continue to rotate and the thrust of the worm 16 against gear wheel 1? forces the latter away from the worm 16, thus oscillating the arm 13 around its pivot 12, which carries with it the lever arm 14. This movement, although slight, is suilicient to *oscillate the lever arm 1 sufiiciently to allow the stud 33 to pass out of the cirtumferential extension 36 of opening 34, and

on tOit-he inclined face 35,whereu1t)on the tension spring 31 causes said stud to press against the inclined face 35 Withsulhcient force to move the lever 14 with a quick snappy movement still farther in the same direction, until the stud 33 comes to rest in the angle formed by the two inclined faces 35, 35 ,thus carrying the gear wheel 17 entirely free of worm 16, and allowing the brake member 30 to contactwith the rim of the table 4 and stop its rotation. This movement also carries the gear 20 out of the arc of movement of the segment 21, so that whenin this position the tone arm can swing freely back and forth.

The mechanism is now in the position that it was in the beginning, andfor playing a new record the foregoing operations are repeated.

The inclined face 35 and lateral extension 36 of the opening 34;, on the righthand side, only are brought into action when the mechanism is intended to automatically stop the machine. The opening 3 11 however is made symmetrical on both sides of its a" 3. so that the record table can be started and stopped by hand when it is desired to operatethe machine in the ordinary way. In that case the inclined face 35 and lateral extension 36*, on the left-hand side of the opening, are brought into play. For instance, the record table will be started by moving the handle toward the right, thus causing the pin to ride up the inclined face 35 until it has entered into the lateral extension 36, which looks the brake carrying lever in inactive position. When it is desired to stop the machine the lever is given a movement in the opposite direction suliicient to release the stud from the lateral extension 36 whereupon the spring 31 moves the parts back to normal position. with the stud 33 positioned in the angle between the two inclined faces 35, 35 and with the brake in contact with the rim of the rotary table.

Fig. 6 shows a modification in which the gear wheel carrying-arm 13 is independent of the lever armv 146, both of said arms being independently pivoted on the screw 12. The worm 16 in this case is made somewhat longer than infFig. l, and mounted upon the arm13 at L0, is an angle-shaped lever 451 provided with anose 42 which engages the worm 16 ill tension spring 1-4 is connected to a fixed stud a) and to the lever 41 so that its axis lies in the axis of ward'ly, that is toward the center of the machine, until finally it is moved entirely out of eng ement with the worm. This swings the lever 41 on its pivot to such posito produce the necessary movement of the lever arm 14 to cause the disengagement of lateral extension 36 of slot 34 from stud 33, and permitting the spring 31 to snap the lever 13 to central or normal position.

The pivoted lever 41 is for the purpose of mechanically connecting the independent arms 13 and 14* so as to cause movement of the latter with the former when the gear 17 is forced out of meshwith the worm 16. For the purpose of causing the arm 13 to move iwith the lever 14* when it is desired to start the machine, the periphery of the hub portion of lever arm 13* is provided -with a lug 47, and the hub portion of the lever arm 14C is provided with a circumferential slot 48, such lug and slot being so arranged that when in inactive position the lug47 is in engagement with one end of slot 48, so that when the lever 14 is moved to start the machine, the arm 13* is swung iu the same direction, thus carrying the gear 17 into engagement with the worm 16.

The mechanism described is of simple construction, can be readily applied' to any standard phonograph or-talking machine,

is entirely concealed byt-he table, is sensitive'in operation, yet reliable, and serves to automaticallystop the record carrying table whenever the needle reaches the end of the record, entirely irrespective of the length of the record, the stoppage being effected by the tone arm ceasing to move over the record. i

Iclaim:

1. In a phonograph machine, the combination of a brake for stopping the phonograph, and trigger for operating said brake to stop the phonograph, said trigger having two cocked positions, manual means to trip the said trigger from one position, and

an automatic mechanism operating without manual interposition to trip the said trigger from the other position.

2. In a phonograph machine the combination of a brake for stopping the phonograph, and trigger for operating said brake to stop thephonograph, said trigger having two cocked positlons, from one of which positions the trigger may be thrown manually, and an automatically operated mechanism to throw it in the reverse way when the reproducer reaches a given position.

3. In a phonograph machine, the combination of a brake for stopping the phonograph, and trigger for operating said brake to stop the phonograph, said trigger having two cocked positions, from one of said po- 4-. In a phonograph machine, the combina tion of a brake for stopping the phonograph, and trigger for operating said brake to stop the phonograph, said triggerihaving means whereby it may be cocked .to permit the reproducer to reproduce the record and whereby it may be tripped by the reproducer when the advance of the reproducer in the record is checked,said means embracing anarm mounted to rotate directly with, and

with the same angular movement of the reproducerarm, and a gear mounted on a pin fastened torotate on the trigger, there being only one gear-interposed between the arm and the said trigger. V v

5, In a phonograph machine, the combination of a brake for stopping the. phonograph, and a trigger foroperating said brake] to stop the phonograph, said trigger having meanswhereby it may be cocked toipermits the reproducer to reproduce the record, and whereby it may be tripped by the reproducer when the advance of thereproducer on: therecord is checked, said means embracing only three-sets'of gear teeth,-and a spring for moving the triggerin; either of two directions to apply the brake.

6. In a phonograph,-motor shaft for op erating the phonograph, stopping means therefor, a triggeri'or operating the said stopping means, starting means adapted to cock the trigger whereby'the phonograph maybe started, a reproducer arm for the a be moved to stop the phonograph when the.

said gear sector is stationary and the said first pinion is rotating.

7. In a phonograph machine, a motorshaft for operating the phonograph, stopping means for'disabling the said motor shaft, a trigger for holding the said stopping means inoperative during the operation of the phonograph, a set of gears for disabling the said trigger when the phonograph has operatedto completely play a record, said set of gears comprisinga motor driven gear, a phonograph reproducer arm operated gear, and an intermediate clutch mechanism to clutch the said gears and being adapted to be entirely thrown out of mesh or to be thrown into mesh with the intermediate gear mechanism connecting the other two gears.

8. In a phonograph machine, a motor shaft for operating the phonograph, stopping means for disabling the said motor shaft, a trigger for holding the said stopping means inoperative during the operation of the phonograph, a set of gears for disabling the said trigger when the phonograph has operated to completely play a record, said set of gears comprising a motor-driven gear, a phonograph reprodncer arm operated gear, and intermediate gear mechanism, said gears being adapted to be entirely thrown out of mesh or to be thrown into mesh with the intermediate gear mechanism connecting the other two gears, a pair of pinions associated With the said intermediate gear mechanism, each being adapted to rotate in one direction, and a clutch operative only when the rotative speed'of a certain one of the said pinions is in excess of the rotative speed of the other pinion.

9. In a phonograph machine, a motor shaft for operating the phonograph, stopping means for disabling the said motor shaft, a trigger for holding the said stopping means inoperative during the operation of the phonograph, a set of gears for disabling the said trigger when the phonograph has operated to completely play a record, said set of gears comprising a motor-- driven gear, a phonograph reproducer arm operated gear, intermediate gear mechanism, said gears being adapted to be entirely thrown out of mesh or to be thrown into mesh with the intermediate gear mechanism, means associated with the said intermediate mechanism adapted to permit a diversity of speedsbetween motor shaft-driven and reproducer arm-driven elements thereof so long as the arm-driven element is moved in memes excess of the speed of the motor shaft-driven element, spring means to hold the gears and mechanism in operative contact, and means responsive to a lower speed of the element driven byo the said reprodncer to disable the said spring means and the said trigger.

1Q. In phonograph machine, a motor shaft for operating the phonograph, stopping means for disabling )the said motor shaft, a trigger for holding the said stopping means inoperative during the operation of the phonograph, a set of gears for disabling the said trigger when the phonograph has operated to completely play a record, said set of gears comprising a motor driven gear, a phonograph reproducer arm operated gear, and .an intermediate gear, said gears being adapted to be entirely thrown out of mesh, one with the other or to be thrown into mesh with the intermediate gear connecting the other two gears, means associated with the said intermediate gear adapted to permit itto rotate in one direction and to prevent it from rotating in the reverse direction, the other two gears tending to rotate the intermediate gear in the same direction, but the said reproducer arm gear being adapted to rotate the intermediate gear at a higher speed than the said other gear would otherwise rotate it, said other gear being adapted to force the intermediate gear out of mesh with the teeth of the said other gear whenthe said reprodncer arm gear becomes stationary when the phonograph record hasbeen completely reprd duced.

In testimony whereof, I

have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM C. ROE.

Witnesses H A D-L; S mvnmr, 

